Meddlesome, Passive-Agressive Seattleites

Story number one: Today I took the baby to the library for story time--as I do every Thursday. It's a ten block walk with a Starbucks along the way. We thoroughly enjoy it. Anyway, it was a little chilly this morning with a very light rain so of course I bundled her up in the stroller with fleece jacket, hat and a blanket to wrap around her legs. After arriving at the library, I shed her outer clothes and we head into the room along with 80 other adults and children.

After a few moments the lady next to me turns and comments how cute the baby is. But noticing her short-sleeves the lady says, "Is she cold? She looks cold. She might be cold. You should put a jacket on her." I Smile politely and tell her that she is okay but her hands are a little cold from being exposed most of the walk over here.

But the lady continues.

"You are wearing a sweatshirt and whenever you wear clothing like that, the babies need more. You should put a jacket on her. Look, the other kids all have jackets. They are dressed warm. She needs a jacket." At this point my smile evaporates and it is on the tip of my tongue to tell her that the stroller is right outside the door of the room and she is more than welcome to bring me the jacket.

A few more minutes pass and I grow increasingly aware of the woman's sidelong glances. Then the baby, in the midst of her excitement of the noisy singing group, lets out a little cough. That sets the woman off again. "See she is cold. She is coughing because she is cold and needs a jacket." I didn't even give her the time of day. She had so completely ruined my share of our Thursday morning outing. Luckily that was the last of her comments.


Story number two: My boss is a paint contractor. He is licensed and very good at what he does. Recently he has been sanding his own house in preparation to paint it as he will eventually sell it. But with the lead paint, he takes serious precautions to keep the sanded paint from being airborne. Body suits, gas masks, safety glasses, tarps on the ground, special lead paint sanders with attached vacuum, etc. But yesterday he got an anonymous letter in the mail of an article from August 2007 about a family who had a paint contractor who didn't take those precautions and her children ingested the lead paint and now have long-term affects such as behavior problems and learning disabilities. The contractor was sued and paid out $40,000 as his insurance would not cover it. This story has nothing to do with my boss. But at the end of the letter, the person writes a personal note about the pay out and insurance and ends with "just thought you should know." This person went out of their way to be anonymous but still knows my boss's name and address. Is this a threat to him as a painter or a warning to him as a home owner?

Yesterday Glenn Beck said that Seattle people are too weird for California. I agree.

Story three goes like this: It's another story involving my boss. Heading south on I-5, he took the exit toward highway 99/ NE 80th ST. The lady in front of him slowed down at the center of the fork between the two roads and didn't seem to know which way she was going. So my boss went around her to the left fork because he knew where he was going. The lady gets mad at this and follows him with a honk. He's heading down the main road to his house and the woman goes to great lengths to catch up to him by speeding up to be side by side and eventually trying to cut him off. Well, being the kind of guy he is, he is not going to let her play these games of "cut him off and slam on the brakes" so he speeds up as well. He turns on his street and so does the Subaru with the two ladies. He parks and they pull up next to him. One lady starts ranting about his driving, how dare he, didn't he know he could have killed someone? Does he know how many people he could have hit? They demand to know if this is his job and want to speak to his boss. He says, "I'm a paint contractor and this is my home. I am my own boss." One lady retorts, "Well now we know where you live." (is that a threat?)

Story four: I have also had someone in Seattle try to correct my driving. I merged without signaling but to be fair, the lane I was in serves as parking most of the day so when it is spotted with cars, you naturally merge to get around them. It's an implied turn signal and people don't always use their directional indicator when there is plenty of space to merge. (people, myself included, signal when there is limited space to merge) The lady gets so mad that she is honking and flashing her lights. I ignore her as I always ignore people when they are angry on the road. (I never understand why people get so mad when they are the victim of a tail-gaiter) Then she gets beside me, mouths the word "turn signal" and proceeds to try to cut me off. Luckily I was turning left anyway and she was headed straight so she did not succeed.

Why, why, WHY? What is with Seattle idiots?

Michael Savage says that liberalism is a disease so maybe their liberal-hippie minds have deformed. Is there a hopeful prognoses? Can they be cured?

Also, I want to let you know that I have started my Obamabot play and it will be posted shortly. I'll also try to post my Gorebot play first so you understand the joke. Stay tuned. :)